De compras en Sol desde el Hotel Victoria 4

One of the pleasures of travelling is ‘hunting’ for those unique items that are exclusive from the place we find ourselves in, small trophies with which we can surprise our loved ones when we go back home or that we can treasure in our own home as travelling souvenirs.

If you have chosen to stay in our hotel, it’s very easy to go shopping in Madrid because some of the most original and oldest shops of the city are located in the area of Sol due to its unique history and central location.

Below are some of those shops that you can find in Sol, where you can buy traditional gifts from Madrid without having to walk further than 15 minutes from our hotel:

1) Casa Diego

On one of the busiest corners in Sol we find Casa Diego (Puerta del Sol, 12), a 200-year-old workshop-shop that makes fans, umbrellas, parasols, and walking sticks.

All of its products are handmade, which gives them a unique touch and exclusiveness of the highest quality. Members of royal families from around the world have ordered products from Casa Diego, such as the princess of Spain Letizia Ortiz, who ordered a fan made here for her wedding.

2) Cafés “La Mexicana”

The century-old shop Cafés La Mexicana (Preciados, 24) welcomes its visitors with the strong and unique aroma of freshly-grinded coffee. All of its coffees are 100% homemade, toasted by hand and grinded right in front of the client.

Curious fact: despite the latest trend of coffee-capsule machines, this shop and its franchises currently hold the Guinness Record for being the shop that sells the most coffee in the world.

3) La Violeta

Whether you want to take back a souvenir from Madrid for a delicatessen lover or you have a sweet tooth yourself, don’t miss out on visiting the confiserie La Violeta (Plaza de Canalejas, 6).

The violet-flavoured sweets and the dewed petals of this flower are this sweet shop’s biggest speciality, a shop that will fascinate you for its vintage style both in its decoration and in the wrappings of its sweets. This is something you can only buy in Madrid.

4) Capas Seseña

Founded in 1901, Capas Seseña (Cruz, 23) is the only shop in the world that specialises in the traditional garment that are capes. Celebrities such as Pablo Picasso, Federico Fellini or Michael Jackson have ordered capes made in the workshop of Seseña. Even the Nobel-prize-winning writer Camilo José Cela received this prestigious award in one of these capes.

Originally a piece of clothing for men, in the last few years they have been making silk ones for women: Hillary Clinton has one of them.